The 1912 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, took place in Stockholm. They were the first games at which athletes from all five continents competed, and the last games at which medals made of pure gold were awarded. Rudolf Cvetko competed at the games as one of seven members of the Austrian Empire's fencing team, which won the silver medal in the team event.
Rudolf Cvetko was the first Slovene to compete at the Olympic Games and the first to win an Olympic medal. He was born on 17 November 1880 in Senožeče. He attended school in Ljubljana and attended a four-year military academy in Trieste. After school, he served in the 16th Hungarian Infantry Regiment in Zagreb and Bjelovar, Croatia. He left the military in 1913, and found work as a physical education teacher at the state grammar school in Gorizia. He was reactivated at the beginning of World War I, and was awarded a bronze service medal in 1916. Following the war, he served as a weapons officer, but was forced to retire prematurely in 1926 due to his progressive thinking. He died in Ljubljana on 15 December 1977.
Rudolf Cvetko began attending fencing classes in 1904 in the gymnastics and fencing school of the Austro-Hungarian army in Wiener Neustadt. After 1905 he was a fencing instructor and judge, and the head teacher at fencing classes. He headed the fencing section at the Ilirija club following his retirement. After 1945 he focused his efforts on the development of young fencers and his work in the Slovenian Fencing Federation.
The Republic of Slovenia is issuing collector coins to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Olympic medal won by a Slovene, as a member of the Austrian team. The front of the coins features a series of dots depicting a fencing mask, while the reverse side features seven sabres arranged in the centre. The sabres are linked by a circle, representing the unity of the seven-member team.

The retail price for collector coins with the face value of €3 has been set at EUR 3, for the €3 collector coins proof at EUR 8, and for the €3 collector coin cards proof at EUR 13. The gold coins retail price is EUR 300 and the silver coins EUR 40, while the ordinary 2012 euro coin sets will be available for EUR 25 and the proof sets for EUR 45.

The Republic of Slovenia has issued these collector coins to mark 100 years of the first Olympic medal won by a Slovenian athlete, then a member of the Austro-Hungarian national team. The Summer Olympics of 1912 were held in Stockholm, where athletes from all five continents competed for the first time. Those were the last Olympic Games for which gold medals were made entirely from gold. The Games were attended by the Austro-Hungarians, who had a seven-strong fencing team, which won a silver medal as a team. One of the fencers was Rudolf Cvetko from Senožeče, Slovenia, the first Slovenian to qualify for the Olympics and win an Olympic medal.

The obverse side of the coin shows a fencing mask designed from a series of dots, while the reverse includes seven sabres arranged around the centre of the coin and connected with a circle to symbolise the close ties in the seven-member national team. The draft design was the work of Milan Drobnak.

The select Deželna banka Slovenije braches will offer the entire numismatic issue for retail sale, less the coins sold to subscribers that had placed advance orders in 2011. The subscribers that do not purchase their ordered gold or silver coins or the 2012 euro coin set will be deleted from the subscribers list in 2012. Subscribers are guaranteed to receive one gold coin, one silver coin and one 2012 coin set each, provided these are collected within 30 days of release into circulation, thus by inclusive 17 July 2012. After this date, thus starting on 18 July 2012, the remaining numismatic coins will be released into retail sale.

Since gold coins and 2012 euro coin sets proof have been minted in small numbers, they will be available over the initial 30 days to subscribers only.

All numismatic coins are legal tender in the Republic of Slovenia. There will be no additional minting of the numismatic coins issued in 2012.

For the latest news regarding numismatics please check regularly the websites of the Bank of Slovenia and Deželna banka Slovenije.

Deželna banka Slovenije also still holds for sale limited numbers of numismatic coins issued by the Republic of Slovenia in the past years (for more information go to http://www.dbs.si/obanki/kontaktniobraz ... matika.asp), €2 commemorative coins issued to mark 10 years of euro cash, and collectors coins issued to mark the European Capital of Culture – Maribor 2012.

Next year the Republic of Slovenia will issue numismatic coins to mark two occasions, the 800th anniversary of the first visit to the Postojna Cave and 300 years since the Tolmin Peasants Uprising. Like in previous years, this year too anyone interested may make an advance order in the selected branches of Deželna banka Slovenije for the numismatic coins to be issued in 2013.